


Through the Wreckage

by interstelklance (ravenlily)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Tags Are Hard, Worried Lance (Voltron), background adam/shiro - Freeform, lion switching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-09
Updated: 2019-09-09
Packaged: 2020-10-13 06:43:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20578193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenlily/pseuds/interstelklance
Summary: He doesn’t stop to take in the damage - the mangled, barely recognizable head, the leg holding on by a few wires, the tail snapped like a twig, the - well. Red is a mess. And he’s not here for the lion. He’s here for Keith. His right hand man, the person that watches his back, the fire to his ice or whatever you want to call it.“Red! You better answer me or I swear to quiznack-“Because in between breaths, the terror slides in.***In which Keith saves Lance - but at what cost?





	Through the Wreckage

Lance careens through the halls of the castle, breath leaving him in harsh gasps as his long legs propel him through open doors and towards the giant hangar where Red sits. He skids in front of the door, shoulder slamming into the frame as he pushes off, using his leg to keep up the momentum. He doesn’t stop to take in the damage - the mangled, barely recognizable head, the leg holding on by a few wires, the tail snapped like a twig, the - well. Red is a mess. And he’s not here for the lion. He’s here for Keith. His right hand man, the person that watches his back, the fire to his ice or whatever you want to call it. 

“Red! You better answer me or I swear to quiznack-“

Because in between breaths, the terror slides in. 

Because he was there when Keith put his lion in between Lance and one of those giant, ugly death rays the Galra have been hauling around on their gunners these days. 

Because when Red was blasted into outer space, when certainty became fear, when  _ lover _ became  _ lost _ ...Lance felt a part of himself crack, ready to break away and never be whole again. 

He sprints across the hangar, ignoring the pull in his ankle and the pounding behind his eyes. They’d been switching off lions for missions since Shiro and Adam had figured out either of them could pilot Black, and this time...this time, Blue had been a little too slow. 

Not her fault, even though Lance can feel the crushing guilt in the back of his skull, the pull towards her fiery half just as fierce as Lance’s towards Keith. He pushes a wave of comfort in her direction, the mental equivalent of  _ its alright, baby girl. We’ll have them fixed up in no time - pinky promise _ .

And Blue knows how serious the pinky promise is. A sacred rite of humankind. 

Lance slams into the front of Red, shoving at the mouth, his suit barely holding up against the shredded metal teeth. “Shit - KEITH!” He yells, but there’s only silence, only the simmering ancient wave of Blue in his head. 

“C’mon, baby, c’mon. Not like this -“

He pulls a shard out and jams it back into the mouth at a sharper angle, using it to pry open enough space for him to shove his shoulders through. The metal pulls and slices, and Lance swears he’ll add to the map of scars on his back.

“God - quiznack it! Just...a bit...further...” he wheezes, squeezing inch by agonizing inch through the twisted remains. 

“Keith! Baby - baby, you gotta answer me! C’mon, you never...were very good at hide and seek!” Lance stalls long enough to yell out, but when harsh breaths are the only thing that reach him he rips his arms forward, dragging himself bodily through the opening he can see. “ Keith!”

His throat is hoarse, and it’s not like the time they went cliff diving on that purple planet in the Nexal System. This soreness comes from your soul, from screaming through tears and the rips in your heart - not from a joyous free fall, and not from lips nervously meeting yours. 

  
  


Lance tears himself through the last bit of rubble in Red’s mouth and finds the door to the cockpit completely crushed, buckling under metal beams and pipes. “Shit. Shit shit  _ shit _ \- Keith! Baby you gotta answer me!”

There’s no answer to his desperate cries, so he does the only thing he can. He pulls himself together, ignores the terror pulling through his chest, ignores the hot liquid running between his shoulder blades...and rips the top access hatch open. If he can’t make it to him from below, he’ll do it from above. 

It doesn’t take long before Lance is standing on top of Red, his breath heaving as adrenaline pumps through his tired veins. He’s running on steam, and he knows it. But Keith could be hurting, bleeding, screaming, and he can’t stop - won’t stop. So he doesn’t. He pulls open the next hatch, near the base of the lion’s skull ( _ is it a skull? how does anatomy work on a giant mecha cat? _ ) and shakes his head, dispelling the near delirious thoughts. 

Lance sprints the last leg of the journey, the cramped hall skimming the shoulders of his armor.  _ How the hell does Keith make it down here? He’s wider than I am... _ he muses as he gets closer, wondering when the last time was that Keith had to come in this way. A flash of amusement tickles his chest, just imagining the broader shoulders of his boyfriend trying to shove their way through the chute, that little crease between his eyebrows growing until he’d just give up and sigh before he had to turn sideways. 

He just hopes he gets to see it.

Lance slams his hand down onto the control panel for the hatch closure, not slowing his gait a bit as he launches himself through the hole in the floor in front of him, legs protesting and ankle nearly buckling on his landing. 

He’s standing in the front of the cockpit, looking out through Red’s ruined eyes...and terrified to turn around. But Lance McClain isn’t a coward, so he slowly swivels to face the pilots chair, heart in his throat. 

Out of everything he could’ve imagined - Keith, sitting perfectly still, arms tangled in emergency belt and helmet-less eyes staring widely at him - would not have been at the top of his list. Hell, it wouldn’t even make the top  _ ten _ . 

“Uh...hey babe?”

Keith’s voice knocks him out of his reverie, raspy and deep and  _ alive _ , and Lance is moving before his mind has time to catch up. Suddenly he’s putting his hands into hair and pulling Keith’s lips to his, smashing them together so quickly he almost tastes blood. 

It’s like coming home, the way Keith kisses him. 

Lance climbs into his lap, reveling in the heat and softness of it all, his feelings finally spilling over until he’s a crying, sobbing mess. 

“You - what the quiznack, Red. I couldn’t hear you and - I thought - I -“ Lance takes a deep breath before he stands up again, looking Keith over once more. “You’re okay?”

“I’m fine. I don’t think Red is - the nickname thing is confusing right now like you could be talking about me  _ or _ the lion, so -“

“Definitely a concussion, then. Alright, Samurai, let’s get you the hell out of here. Where’s your knife? I’ll have to cut you out of here unless you’re  _ really _ keen on the whole tied up look.”

“Bondage is  _ your _ thing not mine - and I do not have a concussion! But the knife, uh -“ Keith looks at him sheepishly, mouth pulling at a small smile. “You should um - maybe check your belt?”

“ _ Keith.” _

**Author's Note:**

> This was something I made a thread about forever ago and turned into a fic so I hope you guys enjoyed it! All my love to the KWS group chat...y’all are too perfect for this world. 
> 
> You can find me on Twitter and Instagram under the same name!<3


End file.
